YOGI SAYS E3LIVE IS THE BEST!
Esak and mom Radha talk yoga, healthy lifestyle and E3Live superfoods
Esak Garcia grew up in Boulder Colorado where his mother Radha Garcia has been teaching yoga for 40+ years and in 1994 opened Colorado's first hot yoga studio. Esak became interested in yoga as a high school athlete at the age of 17 and practiced at his mother's studio. He then went on to study political philosophy at Yale and after that moved to Brazil to train in martial arts. In 2001 Esak became a yoga teacher and yoga became his passion and career. He won a yoga championship in 2005 and since then has been doing workshops, retreats and yoga teacher trainings. Esak and his 72-years-young mom Radha have been taking E3Live superfoods for nearly 20 years! We check in with both of them about their yoga paths, healthy lifestyle and E3Live.
What inspired you to get into yoga?
Esak: For me I was interested in sports. I played football and baseball in high school and was never interested in yoga. My mom went to Bikram Choudhury's yoga teacher training in Los Angeles in 1994. I was a junior in high school and I went to visit her. That's where I did my first class and I immediately knew it would help me tremendously with sports.
Radha: The main thing that inspired me to get into yoga was my health. In 1969 as a young woman I was facing several health concerns. I did not resonate with the recommendations that doctors were giving me. I met someone who did yoga and she was healthy, vibrant, and calm, and I wanted to be like her. I got a book on yoga and started to read.
What was it like to have a mother who was a yoga teacher?
Esak: I remember being a kid and having my mom take me along to the classes she would teach around town. This was WAYYYYY before yoga was popular. I always thought of it as something that my mom did, it was just a part of the scenery for me as a kid. Now, I like to think of it more like a karmic link to my own life-path.
How has yoga changed your life?
Esak: I remember something powerful that Bikram, my teacher, said to me at my training when I asked, "what is the important lesson you would like me to take from your training?" He responded, "Do your duty, and enjoy your life." I took that to heart. Now 25 years into practicing and teaching I feel more than ever that I have a responsibility to uphold with my practice and teaching. It enables me to be a servant and it's incredibly fulfilling. Not only that, but practicing yoga feels amazing and I enjoy it very much.
Radha: My yoga practice gave me my health back. I don't know how to say this, but as a young woman I felt like I wasn't healthy enough to be a mom. Yet, I always knew I was going to have kids. My yoga practice gave me the ability to be a mom. Then doing and practicing yoga gave me a career. I brought hot yoga to Colorado in 1994. Before that there were no hot yoga studios or centers. As a result, thousands of people were exposed to it and have made it a part of their lives. I find a lot of joy in sharing my journey with others.
What is your personal practice?
Esak: The foundation of my practice is the 26&2 hot yoga sequence that most people know as Bikram Yoga. Beyond that there is an 84 asana sequence that some know as the "advanced class." My primary practice these days lies somewhere in between these two and I have developed an intermediate class I call e84. Each of these sequences (26&2 and 84 asanas) is a fixed sequence that repeats and is done the same way every time. The e84 intermediate class is a structure that allows for infinite combinations and variations while using the foundation and techniques of the two hot yoga sequences I learned from Bikram.
Why is a healthy lifestyle important for yoga teachers and students?
Esak: A regular yoga practice naturally helps a person make better lifestyle choices. Practicing feels good. It releases endorphins, alleviates pain, calms the mind and builds concentration. After having a taste of that a person becomes inclined to make lifestyle choices that support the practice. For example, if I eat poorly and I don't hydrate well, my practice becomes more difficult. Most yoga teachers and students are aware of this and have experienced it for themselves.
How did you learn about E3Live?
Esak: I was introduced to E3Live by Jason Winn, Melissa's brother. He was a yogi who I looked up to a lot when I first was getting into yoga. Then my teacher Mary Jarvis in San Francisco started talking about it, and finally I went to a health expo in Vancouver, BC and encountered E3Live there too. It was after that health fair in Vancouver that I started drinking E3Live regularly and I haven't stopped since.
Which E3Live products do you use and what benefits do you feel?
Esak: I love all the E3 products, but these are the ones I use daily: Frozen E3Live or BrainON, E3Enzymes Supreme, Tamera E3 Earth's Essential Cream, and Tamera E3 Light Creme. When I am traveling (which is a lot) I take E3AFA capsules because they are convenient.
First of all the E3Live is the best! It's completely satisfying and nourishing. Hard to explain but I can't get enough of it. I like to drink it straight, an ounce or two per day, but I could easily drink a whole cup full at a time (and I do sometimes). Some people don't like the strong green, chlorophyll, rich taste. I love it!
The enzymes I take because I have done some research and learned that our body requires enzymes to digest food. When we eat cooked foods we get our enzymes from the pancreas. The modern diet is enzyme poor and when the pancreas is taxed it affects the whole body systemically. Given that I eat cooked food regularly, it makes sense to take enzymes. I have better digestion and regular bowel movements when I'm taking enzymes. I take E3 Enzymes with every meal.
As for the creams....it's a little embarrassing to admit this, but my face is addicted to them. Seriously. I live in Colorado and it's so dry here. I never noticed how dry my face was until I used my first bottle of Tamera cream. I had never used moisturizer on my face like that before. Now if I don't have it on, my face feels like the cracked earth desert. I've tried other moisturizers but E3 Tamera moisturizers are my favorite.
Radha: My favorite is the fresh frozen BrainON. I also use E3Enzymes Supreme. BrainON helps me to be more cognitive. It's well-named. It really does turn my brain on. I feel it improves my memory, and overall mental health and well-being. I take BrainON every day, sometimes twice a day. The enzymes improve my digestion and elimination.
How do E3Live superfoods help your yoga practice?
Esak: If I need to sustain my energy because I am practicing a lot, which I tend to do, E3Live is the best way to do it. If I want some nourishment but I don't want food in my belly, E3Live!
Radha: E3Live helps me stay organized so that I can keep my commitments to my practice and business. It supports me to get going and helps me show up for myself and others.
Top 5 tips for a better yoga practice
Esak:
1. Be consistent. A little every day is better than a lot sporadically. Yoga is a lifestyle not a quick fix.
2. Stay hydrated. The more sensitive I get I can feel dehydration in my movements.
3. Focus on the body parts and not the postures. The important thing is to stretch, contract, and invigorate body parts, not to accomplish postures.
4. Stay inspired. Find a teacher or a community that you like and spend as much time with them as you can.
5. Meditate and, in Yogananda's words, practice the presence of God.
Why should we practice yoga? Can you practice yoga if you have a disability?
Esak: Anyone can practice yoga. I work closely with some inspiring yogis with various "disabilities." I tend to think of challenges as spiritual catalysts. So, what most people would call a disability, I can see as an advantage. Regardless, everyone can do it. For me, yoga gives life purpose. The essence of yoga is oneness, so yoga is the practice of focusing on that which binds and holds all things together, rather than on the things that separate.
Tell us more about your retreats and trainings and what's coming up.
Esak: I lead hot yoga immersion trainings. These can be anywhere from week-long to month-long camps where our entire day revolves around yoga practice. Some of these are teacher trainings, others are simply for enthusiasts who think a full-time yoga practice is fun. I'll be doing a week-long in Boulder in June and a month-long in Monterrey, Mexico. I also do lots of online workshops and events. Right now, I am in the middle of a 30-day Handstand challenge that happens online. Each week I send out an instructional video and an assignment for people to work on each day. The assignment focuses on developing Handstands. It's free to participate in. I am always doing things like this. In May, I will also do a 6-day "Virtual Homework week" where we take 90 minutes per day to work on strength and flexibility exercises that will give us a better understanding of certain postures that we do in yoga class. Also, I teach regular online yoga classes and I manage a platform of over 40 live-streamed yoga classes per week. These classes are all live, none of them are pre-recorded.
